Download PEOPLE GATHER AROUND FOOD

Discussion sheet
Sydney Food Fairness Alliance
working towards food security and sustainable food systems
PEOPLE GATHER AROUND FOOD
Food as the focus for celebration, joy and thankfulness
All over the
world, people
gather around
food... for the
satisfaction of
hunger or to
re-create the
community of
the table
Preparing traditional food, Choiseul
Province, Solomon Islands.
Photo: Kastom Gaden Association
Celebrating food
and culture
FOOD NOURISHES and connects
us. Every day, all over the world, people
gather around food, whether for the simple
satisfaction of hunger or to re-create the
bonds that connect us — what the noted
Australian chef and author, Stephanie
Alexander, calls “the community of the table”.
Many cultures set aside special times to
celebrate the diversity and sacredness of food
as an everyday resource. Different cultures
honour food in different ways.
Papua New Guinea - Sing Sing Festival
Pigs are highly valued in New Guinea and
play an important role in these feast. The pigs
are cooked over hot rocks and shared among
tribes that participate in the festival.
India - Rice Harvest Festival
The festival occurs at the end of the cropping
season in both rural and urban areas and is
celebrated in conjunction with the Diwali
Pooja – the Festival of Lights.
Hindu folk art is made on the floor during
these special occasions. Preparation of food
involves drying fruits, almonds and cashews,
and the pounding of half-cooked rice.
China- New Year Festival
The festival brings the Chinese
community together through the preparation
of traditional foods that symbolise
abundance, wealth and good luck in the New
Year.
Australian Aborigines
Traditional Aboriginal communities hold
corroborees, ceremonies that celebrate
occasions such as initiation, the sharing
of art or plentiful food. Following music
and traditional stories and dance, a feast of
seasonally available food is shared among the
tribe.
...We can learn from these traditions to bring together people
from different cultural backgrounds around food.
Produced by SYDNEY FOOD FAIRNESS ALLIANCE and FOOD FAIRNESS ILLAWARRA
Discussion
Questions
What role has food played
in the celebration of some
of the major events in your
life?
How do the ways you
relate to food nourish both
your body and your spirit?
Do we dishonour food by
wasting it?
How sacred is food
if people, animals or
landscapes have been
exploited in producing it? eg. factory farming of cash
crops like tea or bananas
Community food
The Slow Foods Movement
Founded in Italy in 1986, the international Slow Foods movement promotes food and wine culture and encourages interest
in traditional types of cheeses, grains, vegetables and animal breeds by bringing them back into mainstream food markets.
Slow Foods is active in most developed countries.
Slow Foods protects the pleasures of the table from the sameness brought by fast food and modern life. The organisation
actively promotes gastronomic culture and the preservation of agricultural biodiversity.
Brisbane – Northey Street Harvest Festival
Community gardeners at Brisbane’s Northey Street City Farm celebrate the harvest of their crops as a way to bring people
together and to educate them about the life cycle of the plants we eat.
Solomon Islands
Agricultural training agency, the Kastom Gaden Association, has organised taro and banana diversity fairs where farmers and
villagers learn about the varieties of these important crops and exchange planting material.
www.terracircle.org.au
Food and Spirituality
‘Food is more than fuel. Food is about nurturing. It’s about mother love; it’s about sharing a meal with guests; its about bringing
people to the table; it’s about talking — these are the spiritual components of community, I suppose’ ...Roman Koval.
Do you think special foods
are sacred or do you
regard all food as sacred?
For Christians, bread and wine — ‘fruit of the vine and work of human hands’ — becomes the Eucharist or
Holy Communion.
The sharing of the Eucharist binds people to each other and to Christ, thus nourishing their spiritual life and
empowering them to reach out to the needy.
Practical ways to
build community
through the
pleasure of food
For Hindus, Prasad is food that is distributed after the prayer ritual, pujah.
Hindus are urged to think positive thoughts of peace and love when preparing food, to regard food with honour and
to eat it with reverence so as to acknowledge its life-giving spirit.
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eat locally grown food
where possible.
grow some of your
own food – involve
children in growing
and harvesting it
– make it fun
ask someone you know
from a faith about how
food is used in their
rituals
ask someone you know
from a different ethnic
background about
how food is used in
their celebrations.
find a way for your
family to give thanks
for food.
organise an
intercultural food feast
organise a street party
organise a harvest
festival at your local
community garden.
For Muslims, Ramadan is a time when fasting serves as a reminder of the joy of food, the need to give heartfelt thanks
and the duty to share with the needy. The time of fasting is closely linked with the reading of the Koran and to prayer.
At sunset, when fasting is broken, Muslims thank God for the food and for the other blessings of life. Their prayers
remind them that God created food and that they need to regard it as sacred. For followers of the prophet
Mohammed, following the prescribed dietary laws is a reflection of respect for creation.
For Buddhists, the temple is often the place where the community shares food. Traditionally, monks rely on the
generosity of fellow Buddhists to provide them with food.
The mindfulness encouraged by Buddhism helps people regard food and its preparation as sacred.
Indigenous spirituality is celebrated with food. The Aymara, who live in the Andes region of South America, give
thanks as they eat and as they plant seeds, praying that all people will share in the fruits of the earth.
Each year, they have a day of penitence and forgiveness which starts with a communal meal.
For Jews, the Passover meal, besides commemorating the history of their journey out of slavery, also calls to mind
many of their basic beliefs. The lamb, the bitter herbs, the unleavened bread are all an essential part of a ritual that is
full of praise and thanksgiving and that is steeped in an awareness of the Earth.
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